Sars Import from China to Russia Not Confirmed

On Saturday a medical board dispelled the fears that the Russian sailor, flown from China to Vladivostok on Friday, had contracted the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS. Having examined the patient and studied the analyses, the doctors diagnosed his disease as regular pneumonia.

The 48-year-old sailor was flown in from the Chinese city of Harbin. He spent a month in China and was taken to hospital there with a fever. Fearing he had contracted the SARS, Chinese authorities forcedly deported him to Russia.

At present he is undergoing intensive treatment at the infectious diseases hospital in the town of Artyom, 45 km from Vladivostok.